Process and means for adjusting tappets on internal-combustion engines



lOIQIL *rml L. P. SAUNDERS' BROcEs's -AND MEANS non ADJUSTYING TAP-PETS oNmTERNALcoMBusMoN ENGINS Inventorv v .Afton-wy Patented Oct. 14, 1924.

l, y y ,1,511,9137 UNITED! STATES, PATENr}oFF1cE.3

LAURENCE P. sAUNnn-ns, or' Looilzroiar,` NEW YORK.l

l PROCESS AND IFVIEANS FOR ADJUSTING TAPP'ETS ON INTERNALQCOMBUSTON ENGINES.

lAppiimnm med August 4, v1922. serial No, 1579,738;v

To all whom may concern l Be it known that I, LAURENCE P. SAUN- unas, a subject of the King of GreatBritain,

make and use thesame.

residing at Lockport, in lthe county vof Niagara and State of New lYork, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in `Processes and Means for Adjust` ing Tappets on Internal-Combustionk En,-

gines; and I do hereby declare the follow@- ing to be a full, clear,.and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which ityappertains to This invention rela-tes to a method `and means of adjusting tappets on internal combustifon engines, and has for its lobject tol provide facilities-which will enable a single y personto adjust said tappets with certainty i-passage, 5 a guide for and -more expeditiously than has heretofore been proposed. y With these and otherobjects in view, the invention consists in the novelV procedure, and in the novel details of construction more fully hereinafter disclosed and particularly pointed out inthe claims. v

' Referring to the ,accompanying drawings forming a part of this speciicatiomin Vwhich like numerals designate like parts in all the views: v 2

F-igure l1 is a diagrammatic sectional view illustrating a tappet to be yadjustedgto a valve stem and `valve operated by isaid tappe; v l 1 Figure 2 is a diagramma-tic sectional view illustrating a pair of tappets similarto 'the one illustrated in Figure 1, which control valve stems of a sligh-tly modied vform of construction; .i

Figure 3 is a diagrammatic` sectional view taken on the line 3-3of Figure 2, looking in the direction of the arrows, and illustrat-ing the adjustment of one of the tappets sho-wn in said figure;

Figure v4 is a sectional `view taken on thev line 4 4 of Figure 2, looking in the direction of the arrows; and

Figure 5 is a perspective view of a peculiar form of wrench employed in the adjustment of the tappets.

' l indicates the body o-f an internal combustion engine, 2 the intake passage, v3 a valve having a stem 4 controlling said said stem and 6 a spring to return lthe valve to its seat 7 after it has been lifted. As is well known, it is customary to liftl valves such as 3 vfrom their seats means Athe action of the in guides Q and having slightly convex ends 10. .These tappets are moved by cams 11 mounted en ',sliafts 12, whichr cams are provided withl por-'tions 13 vthat move the Ltap-k pets atv a slow speed and portions 14 thatV move ysaid.tappetsat a high speed.y The extreme lower ends made convex Ito cause them toy revolve vunder oftappets 8 reciprocating 10 of the tappetsf are,

Cams and thus prevent`Y` the lattery from wearingjgrooves insaid coated with ycarbon as often happens in adjust the spacebetween A practice, or should the rotation of the ftappet .Y

by thecam serve to shorten 'the vtotal length of .fthe tappet, `or should `thespace when the valve is seated `between the extreme upper end 18 of 'the ltappet and the. extreme v lowerendlQ of the 'valve stembe increased i i from any cause whatever, practice, then; thegeX-treme tappet will be r.suddenly force-d ,bythe cam 11 against `the eXtreme end stem, and :a yconstant knocking or tapping noise will be heard by the operator, ywhich as further well known, to adjust jthevtappets., y ,l

By the present. methods, if one is toadjust .the tappets of anzintern-al combustion engine, 3, hold fast the .head 18 of the screw threaded member 14", he must then with a second wrench'21 seize the lock nut 16,

and he must kwith a third wrench (not.

shown) seize the tappet body to prevent its turning while the lock nut 16 is `loosened and lthe head 18 adjustede rIt will thus be seen that the requirement these Wrenches is a vexatious one, and the constitutes a signal v he must with one wrench 20, Figure of thel luse of7 as it often is, -inj end 18 of y the 19of thevalvey adjustment of tappetsby a single person is rendered very diliicult as well as tedious.

According to my invention, 0n the other hand, tappets can be quickly and efliciently adjusted by a single person who proceeds as follows: .Knowing that the portion 13 of the cam called the quiet zone7 does not lift t-he tappet with sufficient suddenness to cause an objectionable knocking or pounding von the valve stem end .19, the operator knowswf' it will be sutiicient if he so adjusts the total length of the tappet that when its convex surface contacts with said quiet `Zone its top surface 18 will contact With the lowr end 19 of the valvey stein when the valve is seated. He then takesthe Wrench .which is made of sheet nieta-l, and which is provided with the tivo notches 26 and 27, and he straddles with one of said notches 26 the squared or cut 'away port-ions 30 of one tappet 8, andthe straddles the squared portion 31 or" another tappet 38 with the other notch 27. That is to say, he takes advantage of the fact that there are. a plurality of tappets and valve stems located side by vside on internal combustion engines, and he slips his Wrench 25 over a pair or a plurality of the squared portions of these tappets in order to lock them from turning and to leave beth of his han-ds free to manipulate theother Wrenches 20 and 21. A plurality of tappets 'such as 8 and 38 having thus been locked against turning by a plurality of notches 26 and 27 spaced 'apart the same distance that separates the tappets to be adjusted, the operator next turns the cam 11 until the surface 10 of the ltappet 8 rests upon'the, cam 11 'at a point separated from the yquiet zone 18. His hands'being free he next by the a-id -oi' the Wrenches 21 and 2O so manipulates the locknut`16 and head 18 that when the valve lis seated the head 18 contacts With a strip of 'metal lmoWn 'as a eeler which is held against lthe end 1.9 of the valve stem, and which is indicated by vdotted lines atl 20". fIhe particular thickness of the leelerQO` to be used is Well known and is determined by theengineering departments of the firms making the cams. The operator next sets up von the lock nut vand secures the parts in their ad-V justed positions. Should the other tappets such as 83 need adjustment, the same opera` tion is carried outvvith vrespect to them.

It VWill now be clear that my invention 'comprises a procedure by which tvvo or more tappets are locked Vagainst turning While unscre'vving a lock nut and causing oneend of one'tappet torest on the cam 11 at a` point outside the quiet zone, and then so adjusting the other endo said tappet that it will conta-cty Witlra i'eeler 20 placed between said last named tappetend and the extren'xe lower fend 19 of the valve stem when j combustion engine, a tappet provided with an ladjustable vo-rtioi'i secured by a lock nut and ylocated Iacjacent another tappet, which lconsists in 'locking both of 'said tappets against` rotation on their axes while leaving them free to slide' longitudinally; causing the quiet zone of the cam operating the barret lower end of said last namedtappet; ,moving the valve operated by sa-idrlast named tappet to` be seated; looseningj'said lock nut.; moving the: operating end of said adjustable portion of thetappet into contact with the end of the valve stern While the valve Ais i seated; 'and securing said adjustable portion in its new position, substantially ask described. j l

2. Inan lnternal lcombustion engine, the

combination of plurality of valves having Y ldepending stems.; a plurality of rotatable tappets vlocated side by y y portions and adjustalole end portions adapt ed to contact With said valve stems; a 'plu-v rality ot cainstogop-erate lsaid tapp'ets; Aand a locking means adapted to fit said flattened portions to temporarily loclzaga-instrotation a plurality of said ,tappets While thel length 'of Ione of the klatter Lis be-ing adjusted to operate its corresponding valve stem, sub stanti-ally as described.

side having liattened to be` adjusted 'to contact with the c In testimony Where'ofl aifixiny signature.: i

nnnnnnon r. saunnnns. 

